Guangzhau!

Being in Guangzhau has been wonderful! I didn’t realize how much I missed having the freedom to go outside of the hotel and walk. The area around the hotel is very “westernized”, peaceful, clean, and much less crowded. There are a variety of restaurants and lots of small shops….and yes, like Megan said, a Starbucks!! Oh, and most of the workers speak good English (at the hotel and the shops and restaurants). We did a lot of walking today, outside in the nice 70 degree weather!! Last week, Nanchang was in the 50s. So we welcome the comfortable weather!

Most of the adoptive families stay at the While Swan Hotel (where we are at) and it’s been sooo encouraging to meet other families. We’ve met at least 3 Christian couples today (well, one was traveling alone while her husband was staying back with their other 5 children…4 of which are adopted). We didn’t realize how much we craved Christian fellowship until we got a taste of it today (and only after 1 week of being by ourselves…we are pathetic). Hearing their experiences, having the common bond in Jesus, common bond in adopting, common bond in our passion to help orphans (and I don’t just mean adoption, here..)…it’s been wonderful!

(Guangzhau at night...right outside our hotel)

This morning, Abram got his picture taken for his passport/visa and then had his medical exam.
We got there at a decent time and were out fairly quickly. Tomorrow is a free day, which we plan on going to the “Safari Park”( a zoo, where the animals are in there natural habitat). It cracked me up that our guide tried to explain the difference between the city zoo and the Safari Park and the bottom line was always…” Zoo has one Panda, Safari has 10 Pandas”. So, she convinced us….we’ll go see 10 pandas. :)
After walking about, going to the park (it was so nice to have a park!!), and playing at the children’s room (here at the hotel), we headed out for supper. One of Jeff’s co-workers, who adopted from China 6 months ago, suggested a good Thai restaurant. So we took his recommendation and it was so good! The Sweet and sour chicken with cashew nuts was fabulous. The only thing not fabulous was eating out with a two year old….have I mentioned how stressful it is to eat out with this little guy?! I could do room service, but it’s very expensive here and Abram is such a messy eater that it leaves our room a complete mess! As much as I love not cooking these past few days, I can’t wait until I don’t have to take him out.

This evening we watched part of the Disney movie, “Cars”.I bet Jeff that we would get through 30 minutes of it and have to stop because Abram’s attention is very short. Jeff said, “no, I bet 15 minutes”. Unfortunately Jeff was right.

After yesterday being such a rough day with Abram, we wonder how much he identifies himself with us and sees us as Daddy and Mommy. We had so many wonderful moments with him over the past week, but yet, I feel like he might walk up to anyone and reach out for them at any time. Today, he hasn’t reached out for anyone but us, but he’s so unpredictable…like I’ve said, there’s still so much to know about him. Please continue to pray that Abram will continue to identify himself with us. We realize that bonding and attachment doesn’t happen overnight and we don’t expect it to. It would be nice to see progress and I’m not sure how much progress we’ve made.

Abram continues to struggle going down for naps and at night time. We’ve been singing the same 3-4 songs over and over. These are the same songs that we sing the most often with Chase and Aubrey. He’s crying as I’m typing…I take that back, he’s screaming (yes, I’ll go comfort him). Usually he has to get to that point of screaming/crying before he finally will fall asleep, it doesn’t matter how much we rock and hold him before that. Ok…he’s finally asleep after fighting it for 1 hour (and yes, he was tired). Thankfully, once he’s asleep, he sleeps well.
Though Abram might be a 2.5 year old, it actually seems like he’s 18 months old. I don’t say that to be critical of him or that I’m disappointed. To some degree, I expected him to be delayed, but not this much (yes, it could be worse). His walk is a toddle, he’s very clumsy (I feel like he’s an accident waiting to happen :)), his speech is delayed (which is fine, since he’s going to be learning English now), and he seems to be delayed with his fine motor skills. It’s been almost a week that we’ve had him and in that one week, he went from not being able to drink from a cup and swallow (without most of it running out of his mouth and him coughing….remember our luggage was lost and along with it were the sippy cups), to figuring out the timing of swallowing and taking in more liquid into his mouth. He’s doing pretty good with the sign for “more” and is catching onto “please”. Also, I think he’s beginning to recognize his name. I told Jeff that we should start to work with him with the stairs (he can do it, but he’s not very balanced) and see how much progress will be made by the end of this week. It will be so interesting to see how much progress will be made in 3 months, 6 months….one year from now. I have a feeling that he will be growing by leaps and bounds.

Right now, he sleeps soundly and we are so thankful that we have him, he’s ours. Jeff and I get to love on him and hold him. We noticed the 2nd or 3rd day that his cheeks weren’t as clear and were a bit bumpy. I commented on it and wondered, out loud, if his face wasn’t use to being kissed so much!! Honestly, I think that’s why his skin isn’t as clear right now, for as much as we’ve kissed those cheeks!

Love,

Jeff, Chelby & Abram

(fun morning hair)

(first taste of ice cream)
(This picture is for Chase! - my 2 John Deere boys!)

Encouragement and Setbacks

This morning we were able to Skype my parents, Chase and Aubrey. I had Abram wearing a John Deere sweatshirt for Chase to see. For those of you that don’t know Chase that well, he’s our John Deere-aholic. It was good to talk to them and to catch up on life back at home. We were also able to Skype Jeremy & Tammy, which was a lot of fun.

There wasn’t much on the agenda today, as we waited at the hotel until Abram’s passport was ready. We walked the hallway and went down to the Lobby and walked a lot. Through the course of the morning, we started seeing more aggression in Abram.(i.e. he’d hit our faces while we were holding him and laugh) A stern “no, no”, wasn’t fazing him at all.
On a positive note, Abram seems to be picking up on some sign language….hopefully that will help lessen his whining for everything.

Shortly after noon, I tried to put Abram down for a nap…before we would be taking off for the airport. The nap never happened. ARRR. But of course, on the way to the airport he took a short 20 minute nap.

After we were checked in, we still had another 2 hours. Abram had no desire to sleep more, but wanted to walk….Which is fine, except he would walk up to any given stranger (always a male) and reach up for him. As Jeff would bend down to pick Abram up, he would hit him and push Jeff away. I could tell it bothered him and it bothered me, too. I felt like those two had really “hit it off”, and now Abram was rejecting him.

To be truthful, the plane ride was stressful and miserable. Abram was so tired and any of you that have lots of experience with an overly tired two year old would understand. He was so tired that he didn’t know what he wanted….on his seat, on Jeff’s lap, then my lap…we could not wait to get the trip over with. The Whales crackers ran out way too quick, he ate the last of the cheerios before we even got on the plane, he didn’t want anything to do with the fruit snacks that I brought (I’ll eat them, I love them) , the books hardly held his attention (oh, couldn’t this kids fall asleep, I know he’s tired)…Then he would hit us, as we were holding him (this happened once to me, and once to Jeff), so we would set him in his seat and buckle him in….and he didn’t like that! That’s when the screaming and thrashing came in. (oh, Lord, how am I going to make a 13 hour flight back to the US next week and then still have 2 connecting flights?!) Finally after the second round of thrashing/screaming/crying (yes the second round!) his body gave way to sleep and he slept soundly in my arms for the next 50 minutes.

Arriving in Guanzghau was like heaven! The White Swan Hotel is very nice and everything seems much more like the US. Just being with other Americans is a change of pace…we were the only Americans at the last hotel. We were able to find a small café with good food at a cheap price and there we devoured our meal and ice cream! Yum!

Abram’s been a different boy since we got off the plane ride. Tonight, I sang to him and rocked him before bed time. He didn’t fall asleep in my arms, but he laid there very still for awhile. He allowed himself to be held close and to be loved on. I set him in bed, he didn’t cry (still awake) and eventually fell asleep (usually he fights going to bed).

Jeff and I have been discussing and we wonder if his behavior this afternoon was a combo of tiredness, the fear of the unknown (from his point of view), and grieving. We still have so much to learn about him. We love him so much and I know we have to be patient.

We are exhausted and tomorrow Abram has his medical exam done (generic…every adoptive child from China has one). Sorry for no pictures, but we’re shot from an emotionally and physically exhausting day.

Thanks so much for your comments!

Love,

Jeff, Chelby & Abram

Thursday's Adventures

Thursday’s Adventures

To start out….Since we can’t access our blog in China, I’ve been emailing my posts to my cousin, Sarah, and she’s been posting them for us. She also has emailed the comments back to us….so we want to thank you for the encouragement, prayers and support. We’ve enjoyed being able to read your comments!

Our morning started slow, with Abram waking up at 6:30. He quietly snuggled with both of us for the next 30 minutes. We took our time getting ready and walked down for breakfast.

After breakfast we walked to the pedestrian street...Yup, the pedestrian street. If you’re like me, I’ve been wondering what it was, but didn’t figure it out until a couple days before we came to China. It’s basically an outdoor mall with a street only for pedestrians, no vehicles…..ahhh (relax), I can handle this kind of walking in Nanchang.

I had made a list of items to look for, but suddenly, I realized that getting something for Abram wasn’t on this list. We’ve already bought so much for him back at home, that I hadn’t thought about purchasing anything for him here. After looking around for a bit, we found a few items, but nothing for Abram. Abram was getting antsy (imagine that, a two year old not liking a shopping trip!!) and we needed to head back before he would be a complete mess….which he was by the end!

We bundled Abram up even more today, to prevent being scolded by people as we were out & about...

We thought we were doing good, but as Jeff held him, his pant leg would get hiked up, exposing his leg. A few people scolded us for that. But when we were in a store, our guide pulled his pant leg down to help us and then said to Jeff, “Oh! He only has on one pair of pants! You need to put on another pair!” I thought about saying later, “well how many pairs of pants do you have on?!?” We were in a shop and they tried selling us “under-pants” (pants to go under his other pants) – we politely declined and said we have some back at the hotel (which we do, although we probably won’t put them on him :)). We just CAN’T win!

After we got back, we were able to skype Jeff’s brother and sister-in-law, Todd and Wendy. It was fun to talk and for them to see Abram. While talking, Abram did what any other two year old would do…discover the unraveling of T.P.

It’s cute the first time, but not when he got caught later that day, again.

As the afternoon wore on, the mother heart in me was saddened that we would be leaving this city tomorrow…His City, were he’s spent the first 2.5 years of his life. When would he be back to visit? I don’t know..10 years? 15 years? All he has to remember from this city are the clothes that he was wearing when we met him and the pictures we’ve taken while we’ve been here…with determination, I decided to go back to the pedestrian street by myself (too stressful to take Abram and I’d rather shop than let Jeff do it)….but this meant I had to cross the “suicide street” by myself (without holding Jeff’s hand :)-scary!!). With Jeff’s encouragement, off I went, on a mission.

Thankfully I only had to cross 3 streets before I got to the pedestrian street. On my way, I wasn’t very flattered when one man (the age of my Dad) looked directly at me and whistled.(yick). From that point on I didn’t look at any men and continued to keep a tight grip on my purse. I stood out like a sore thumb. The first shop I went into, the worker wanted to help, but there was an obvious language barrier, but that didn’t stop her from trying (even though all I wanted was to look!). Thinking back on it, I laugh, as I stood there in the store with the worker a foot away. If I moved backwards for more space, she’d just move closer (once again, personal space isn’t regarded like it is back in the states! :)….but then again it’s a much more crowded country).

I found what I wanted…silk/satin (I can’t read the tag, it’s in Chinese) pajamas, to make a security blanket out of it...

Something he can hold onto for the next few years and know that it’s from his city. It might not mean much now, but someday it will. Excited with my find, I looked around a bit more and then headed back to the hotel….feeling successful that I found what I was looking for and feeling accomplishment that I made it across the streets by myself (I sound like a child…but you’d understand if you were here!)

For dinner, we went back to the same restaurant and had ourselves another $7 meal. Abram was really acting up and throwing a fit for the first part….oh, how I hate eating out with a 2 year old….no wonder we rarely take our kids out to eat. What’s harder is when you don’t know the child very well and don’t know what’s going on in his brain, to know how to react to them…let alone a communication barrier. I think we both felt some insecurity as the workers looked at us foreigners (who are adopting one of their children). At one point, I was walking with Abram in the restaurant…he was acting up and a waitress came over to offer a helpful hand and reached out for him. Subsequently, Abram turned from her and reached up for me! So through his misbehavior, I realized he is starting to identify himself with me (yes!!!).

Our meal was good, but pretty spicy (that’s typical for this area of China). Last night was spicy, but tonight had our mouths on fire!! (Abram just ate rice) Thankfully they serve watermelon with the meal, to cool off our mouths!

Tomorrow (Friday) we get Abram’s visa and we then fly to Guanzghau, to complete the adoption on the US side. Please pray for our flight, first flight for Abram (thankfully only a 1.5 hour flight), that we can be calm and flexible with this active 2 year old. Yes, I’m prepared with snacks, and toys, but that can only go so far. There are many times that we wonder what he is thinking, is he scared, is he reacting out of fear?

(Here we are with, Tina, our Tour Guide)

Love,

Jeff, Chelby & Abram

Trying to adjust to this Chinese culture! :)

Abram has been so snuggly in the mornings.

This morning, Jeff was the recipient of many more kisses from Abram (some snotty, some not!). Jeff laughs and says, “he’s a good kisser!”

After breakfast, today (Wednesday), we took a bus over to the Teng Wang Pavilion. As we waited for the bus the locals stared at us and one man came up to our tour guide and started asking questions about us. As he was talking, I was noticing others congregating in our area, listening in on their conversation. Our guide, Tina, translated…”He wants to know where you are from? I told him to guess, but he said that all the foreigners look the same.” We laughed and told Tina that many times we can’t distinguish between Chinese, Japanese or some of the other Asian countries.


As we were at the Pavilion, our camera battery died! Jeff was so disappointed, as this was one place he really wanted to see and take lots of pictures. So instead, we bought a bunch of post cards in the gift shop as a keepsake.


This wasn’t a kid friendly outing for our busy, active guy. With so many people around, we can’t let him run around. After an hour, it was time to call it “quits” and we headed back. The bus wasn’t going to be around for awhile so we walked back to our hotel…a forty minute walk.

Abram wanted nothing to do with the stroller and only wanted Jeff to hold him. Poor Jeff, his arms were so tired! On the way back, we walked along “Suicide Street” or so we have aptly named it after watching traffic and trying to cross it a few times.

(Random picture of Bill Clinton with a Chinese leader at the Teng Wang Pavilion)

This afternoon Jeff went to the supermarket to get more bottled water, snacks & fruit.It was quite the adventure looking for various things and not being able to read most of the packages.

He did manage to find M&Ms, Chips Ahoy cookies (not quite the same as back home, but still decent), kiwi & yogurt. I had no desire to go because I didn’t want to have to cross Suicide Street with a 2 ½ year old, much less by myself. Jeff actually enjoyed looking at all the very, very different foods from what we’re used to and all the workers trying to be helpful but not speaking any English. One thing we’ve noticed is how gracious and helpful everyone is here. It truly is a treat, especially knowing how our culture is. In some ways it’s convicting, thinking of how unhelpful we are to those who might need it. We’re always in a hurry and they don’t seem to be (except when they’re going through an intersection!).


In the evenings we are on our own without our tour guide. Tonight we decided to venture out(instead of room service or the hotel restaurant). Our tour guide had showed us a restaurant that had a good menu with pictures. So tonight we tried it out. We were early and no one else was eating. It was an interesting experience as we tried to communicate what we wanted, what to drink…We had at least 3 waitresses standing around us, trying to help. The waitresses looked like they were in high school and giggled a lot as they tried their best to communicate. Even as we were eating (which we were pleasantly surprised that we enjoyed it) the waitresses stood maybe 3 feet away and watched us.

(Funny comment about the “peace sign” – since I couldn’t count in Chinese, I held up one finger, then 2 then 3 so they’d know when I was going to take the picture. When I held up 2, she misunderstood what I was doing and held up the peace sign. We thought it was really funny!!!:))


Abram struggles with using any eating utensils (even though we brought a child silverware set). As we were eating (tonight) and trying to help him, one of the workers walked up and started feeding Abram…shoveling spoonfuls of rice into his mouth. At first, I felt frustrated with it (and feeling like personal boundaries were invaded), but soon realized she was only trying to help….so we just smiled and would stop her if she was shoveling in too much too soon. After that, there were at least 2 other waitresses who walked up and did the same. Needless to say, personal space is not regarded like it is back in the States (you should see them pack into an elevator!!)

We laughed at our experience and the giggling waitresses….who knows, maybe we’ll go back tomorrow night! Oh one more thing….we had enough food for all 3 of us, plus a fair amount left over, ordered 2 Pepsi’s (yes, Pepsi!) and it cost $7 (US money)!! Can’t beat that! I don’t know exactly what our dish was, but it was good and sometimes ignorance is bliss!

We ended our day with swimming and watching Bob the Builder (in Chinese…which Jeff found at the Supermarket the other day along with Thomas the Train for $2 a piece-US).

(Bundled up after swimming)

Abram continues to warm up more and more giving me several kisses this afternoon and tonight…it melts my heart! Adjusting (him to us and us to him) has gone way better than what I ever expected! Chase, Aubrey, Jeff and I have prayed for months that God would be preparing Abram for the changes that he would face. I have to give God the credit for how things have been going. I realize there will be other issues down the road, especially with Aubrey adjusting to him (I think there will be a jealousy factor there!) and much more change for Abram when we come home, but for now, I step back and I thank God for these days.

(1 more picture of the little guy eating his first poptart!:))
We are LOVING the comments; please keep 'em coming!

Love,

Jeff, Chelby & Abram

China Update (and lots of pictures!!!)

Starting From the Beginning…

Friday afternoon we left our house and went to the Peoria Airport to start our Journey. When we checked our luggage in, the guy was putting on the tags and asked (out of formality) what our final destination was…I said LA with you guys (American Airlines), but ultimately China via China Southern Airlines. He said oh…wait a minute then. I gave him our itinerary and he was able to check our bags to Guangzhou (1st stop in China) but not to Nanchang. Little did we realize how important that would be later that night! After being delayed a bit more in Chicago, we flew to the LA Airport….giving us only an hour to run (literally!!) through the Airport, out of security, to the international terminal, to check in with a different Airline…only to find out that the ticket counter was closed. Thankfully the worker had pity on us as we explained our dilemma and she checked us in and printed our boarding pass. We ran to security, scrambling to hurry through and ran to the gate, just to find out that they hadn’t even started boarding yet. If we would have had to wait for our luggage in LA, there’s absolutely no way we would have made it to China on Sunday.


After about an hour in the air, Jeff reached down for his Laptop, only to pull out one that didn’t belong to us!! In the midst of our security scramble, I grabbed the WRONG laptop and Jeff grabbed the correct one, but didn’t notice there was already one in there. So here we are on the plane, with our laptop and someone else’s…oh the pit in our stomachs!! We turned it into the Airline, explaining the mishap. Hopefully, it will (somehow) be returned to the rightful owner.

Once we ended that 16 hour flight, we found out that our luggage never made it! Thankfully we had all the documents that we needed on our carry on.

Finally, on Sunday afternoon, we got to Nanchang, our destination. Two hours later we met Abram for the first time. He came toddling into the Hotel Lobby with the orphanage director and Assistant director. They kept saying to him, “ mama, papa” and pointing to us. As Jeff bent down to his level and held out his arms, Abram walked right into his arms.

What were our first thoughts??? “This boy needs a hair cut”, “Wow, we weren’t expecting that”(in regards to him not crying)


Nap time and Bed time have been hard on Abram. Like most adoptive cases, he came to us with the clothes he was wearing, nothing else. My Children have special blankets, pillows, doll…that they treasure at bedtime, that they hold close. Abram…everything is new and as he settles down for the night, I think he realizes that nothing is familiar and he cries. Thankfully, he receives our affection and allows us to rock him and cradle him. But even then, we have had to let him cry himself to sleep.


In some ways, I’m doing some grieving for him. No special blanket, pillow, stuffed animal. No pictures from his past, it doesn’t even look like I will be able to visit his orphanage(so that I could take pictures, to show him some day). I just read a statement, “A child’s past is connected to his future”. So much of his past is unknown to us. We were able to ask the Assistant Director questions, but they were pretty generic answers. She didn’t even know the name of his special caregiver. I pray that God will fill in gaps that are beyond me.


One prayer request….could you pray that Abram will recognize us as Mom and Dad, by the time we travel home. He is such a busy guy and isn’t afraid to wonder off or go up to anyone(especially if they have food, or if they are Chinese….and there are a lot of Chinese here!! :)), waving hi & smiling at them.



One a different note, something that I’ve been praying for, is that Abram and Jeff will connect easily.
My reason for this prayer: Usually a 2 year old boy will start relating and connecting more with his father and I want them to have this special bond… Something that Jeff and Chase already share. I figure that once we are home, I’ll have lots of time with the kids(and to connect and bond) and Jeff’s time will be minimal. Well, on Monday, Abram started caressing Jeff’s face (I think he likes the feel of his scruff). Over and over and then with Jeff’s face between Abram’s hands, Abram leaned forward and planted a kiss on Jeff’s lips! It was such a sweet moment. Abram must have repeated this a half a dozen times throughout the day…but never to me. Am I jealous? Not right now, I know a prayer is being answered. Abram receives my love, but doesn’t respond back in the way that he does with Jeff….and that’s ok.

There’s so much more I could write, so I’ll try to summarize the last 24 hours…

Monday afternoon, we braved the streets of Nanchang and walked to the supermarket to buy some items, since our Luggage wasn’t in yet. The driving is completely nuts around here!! We have to watch out for cars, bikes, scooters…everything. We even got scolded my some women for not dressing Abram warm enough (The scolding is typical for China) as it was a cold afternoon. (When he came to us, he was bundled up like an Eskimo! 2 pairs of pants, boots with strawberries on them :), t-shirt, sweater and a heavy winter coat). Oh well, how do you tell them that his hat and mittens are in our lost Luggage?!


Tuesday, free day. We got a call that our Luggage was in and would arrive in Nanchang by the afternoon! Yeah!!! You can’t imagine our excitement!! Clothes, extra snacks, power converter for the computer and other items. We felt like kids at Christmas!!

In the afternoon, we went swimming. For it being Abram’s first time….not too bad, considering that Chase and Aubrey screamed bloody murder their first time!!

One last thing….Abram….He’s busy, busy, busy….but he gets winded easily due to his heart condition (which we found out that he’s never had any surgery). We can get him laughing and giggling quite a bit. And he is a typical two year old who has his own ideas and will let us know if we are in the way!!

Now, some pictures....

Abram getting finger-printed for some of our documents

Policeman “directing” traffic – not sure who’s even paying attention to him – they all seem to do what they want anyway!

some things are cross-cultural! :)
Fun at the pool!

cutting the temporary lock on our luggage that arrived this afternoon!

Abram & Mommy playing at the pool area

doing “laundry” in the sink on Monday while waiting for our luggage to arrive.

Love,

Jeff, Chelby & Abram

Abram!!

(This message came through at 12:30 am Monday morning 12/28)

All,

We safely arrived in Nanchang China this afternoon at 2pm local time (midnight central time) after 36 hours of traveling. All things considered, we are feeling decent, although the jet lag is starting to catch up with us. We are without our checked luggage (didn’t make the LA to China flight) & therefore no power converter so I am running on battery power only & trying to conserve as much as possible until our baggage arrives, hopefully tomorrow. More to that story which will have to wait.

We met Abram for the first time this afternoon around 5pm.

He did amazingly well with the transition, but is now struggling as it’s time for bed. We’re all ready for a good night’s sleep!

Thanks so much for the prayers! We can definitely feel them and continue to need them. We love you all!!!

Jeff, Chelby & Abram

All,

We slept extremely well last night – praise the Lord. Abram fell asleep at 9pm and we had to wake him up at 7am. We went to several appointments today which went well. Still no luggage though, but we probably won’t know until later this afternoon. Tina, our guide, is trying her best to get it to us as soon as possible, calling the airport frequently.

We’ll share more pictures once we have our luggage & power converter – still running off battery power which is getting slim.

Love,
Jeff, Chelby & Abram

Semi-Done

I painted Abram's room yesterday and finished up today. This is the before picture:



And After pictures:

There's still more that I'd like to do, but it'll wait. It feels good to have the hard part done!

Am I nuts or nesting?

In one week we will be traveling to China. I've been doing some packing, but I still have lots more to do. So what am I up to now?....I've decided to paint Abram's room today!! A little crazy, I know, but at least I enjoy painting. It won't be anything amazing, because he will eventually share a room with Chase, but anything has got to be better than this:

I think I'm definitely nesting! Or maybe I'm nuts.

TRAVELING!

Yup, that's right we are traveling to China on February 25th!! We are suppose to be able to travel back on March 11th. Abram, here we come!

Aubrey's 1st Hair Cut

Ok, Aubrey and I have had some battles over her hair. She screams as I comb out the tangles. Sound familiar to anyone?

I told Aubrey, one morning after a "hair battle", that she was going to get her hair cut. She was very willing and excited, as she's seen Jeff and brother get their hair cut many times.....My problem....I have very little exprience cutting girls' hair.

With some determination, I started cutting(pretending I was like Aunt Barb, who always cut our hair). After awhile, I felt pretty confident. What about some layers? " I've seen the hair stylist put layers in mine, why can't I do it?"

End result? Not too bad. Not perfect.

And, no, she would not pose for the ending picture. Oh, well.

Snow day in Chicago

This is the view from our front door...the neighbors were all our scooping their walks while we were out. It was nice to meet some of them and chat.
This is a picture of the Lake Shore Drive. Yes on the right you see all the car covered in snow that were abandoned last night in the storm.
Yep those are cars under there!
Some of the drifts were taller then me!
A quick pick this AM during the storm of our car outside our apartment. That white truck in the background did make it down the street amazingly enough!

Hope you're all warm and dry! We love you!
A,B and T